This invention relates to a new and unique game racquet for use in playing racquetball, squash or similar games in which a composite extruded metal and plastic frame is employed to secure a racquet having the desired balance and flexibility for better ball control but with sufficient durability to withstand extensive use in either recreational or tournament play without objectional deformation.
Laminated wood and extruded metal frames of aluminum, aluminum alloys, and stainless steel, have been previously used in the manufacture of racquets but such frames all have limitations which resist universal acceptance, and extensive experimentation has been conducted in an effort to secure a racquet incorporating all the desired characteristics of previously designed frames without increasing the cost of manufacture over the procedures customarily employed.
In view of inherent strength, a tubular or channel steel frame structure provides a logical choice for racquets of the type in question but have been found to be objectionable because of excessive flexibility or excessive weight. Extruded frames of aluminum or aluminum alloys possess the desired rigidity, but as noted in the prior art, such as the patent to Vaughan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,172, of Aug. 12, 1975, such frames have a tendency to deform in use. However, bending strength is not the characteristic that determines durability. The ability of the frame to absorb energy without yielding is the important characteristic because the racquet does not transmit a force to the ball, but rather it transmits energy that has been developed by the player's arm and stored in the racquet. My composite frame has excellent energy storage capacity as compared with conventional tubular aluminum frames.
Extruded metal frames also have been found to be objectional in that string wear may be excessive at the point of contact between the strings and the metal edges of the stringing holes. The strings are subject to excessive wear resulting from the friction as the ball strikes the strings, causing the strings to fail at that point.
Modifying the cross-section design of the metal frame in an effort to overcome this objection presents a problem. Increasing the thickness of the web of the metal frame member without increasing the weight, reduces the strength of the frame and increases the tendency to breakage. Present designs represent a compromise between springing action and durability, dictated in part at least, by costs of manufacture.